theartsdesk Q&A: Impresarios Victor and Lilian Hochhauser, Part 2

theartsdesk Q&A: Impresarios Victor and Lilian Hochhauser, Part 2

The Soviet attempt to block 'fascistic' music by Boulez, and other stories

6 September 1961, The Times: a cliff-hanging year, with Kirov and Richter debuts - and Nureyev's defection

In the second part of this historic career overview interview with the unique British impresarios, Victor and Lilian Hochhauser talk about their razor-edged relations with Soviet apparatchiks and the pressures they came under to prevent artist defections. Victor (who is a very engaging raconteur) reveals the lengths the Russians tried to go to stop Pierre Boulez conducting Berg in the USSR - liver-busting ceremonial vodka sessions, and a solution of Lewis Carrollian ludicrousness. "I hated them," he says, "but we needed each other."

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